US Ready to Air Drop Aid to Irrawaddy Delta

By LALIT K JHA / NEW YORK Friday, May 9, 2008

The United States said on Thursday said it is ready to air drop relief material and food to save the lives of hundreds if thousands of people in the cyclone hit areas of the Irrawaddy delta upon approval of the Burma’s military government.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US would not enter Burmese airspace without approval.

"It is all tied to sovereignty, which we respect whether it's on the ground or in the air," Mullen told reporters. "Right now we just don't have any way to get into that airspace with permission."

In different briefings during the day, Pentagon and the State Department officials said at least three US ships in the Gulf of Thailand—USS Essex, USS Juneau and USS Harper's Ferry—are moving towards Burma to be ready to provide necessary help.

"The tragedy is compounded by the fact that if you look at what our Navy was able to do both with the Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake, there is a lot of opportunity here to save a lot of lives," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates, during a Pentagon briefing.

"We are fully prepared to help and to help right away. And it would be a tragedy if these assets, if people didn't take advantage of them," he said.

Gates said the US navy is dispatching helicopters from the USS Essex strike group to a staging area in Thailand, where they will be able to reach Burma with relief supplies ‘in a matter of hours."

In addition, six C-130 aircraft also are available to provide humanitarian support and could airdrop food and water if granted position, he said.

Meanwhile, the White House said it is involved in negotiations with the Burmese government and other countries to provide aid and relief material to the cyclone affected people.

"We are hopeful that permission will be granted not only for United States aid but all sorts of international aid," White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe told reporters abroad Air Force one en route to Texas.

"We appreciate the Chinese and any other governments who have used what influence they have on the junta to encourage the junta to allow aid in. All of these efforts are ongoing. The bottom line is, we want to get aid into Burma as quickly as possible," Johndroe said.

He said the talks with the Burmese Government are being conducted by its embassy in Rangoon.

Source